An Artist to Watch: Sam Pinkerton Readies Debut Album

Sam Pinkerton is a singer-songwriter on the verge of breaking through to a significantly wider audience, something her supporters have anxiously anticipated for the last several years. The Florida-born, Nashville-based artist has been diligently working on what is to be her debut full-length album. The honey-voiced songstress has consistently displayed a knack for crafting striking melodies and poignant lyrics. A confident performer, whether fronting a band or on her own with just her acoustic guitar, Pinkerton clearly has music running through her veins.

She’s been in the studio for months, forging ahead with an album that is expected to be released this fall. An in-progress Kickstarter campaign, Sam & Friends, will hopefully be fully funded by its conclusion on July 12. This will allow Pinkerton and her team to complete the project. In the meantime, an EP sampler, released late last year on Bandcamp, offers a taste of what to expect. Each of the three tunes is a prime example of the hypnotically melodic folk pop Pinkerton has been writing since she was posting bedroom-recorded demos to YouTube when she was in high school.
Those homemade, diamonds-in-the-rough eventually progressed to a recent video for Pinkerton's "Stay Here," featuring backing by another Nashville group, Judah & the Lion.

When I first stumbled across those early recordings, Pinkerton’s raw talent was immediately apparent. Wanting to know more about her background, I interviewed her before she even had any music officially out. Soon after beginning college, she released an EP with the group Someone Like Tommy (still available on Bandcamp) in 2011. It’s an inventive selection of original songs that offered evidence of her blossoming skills. Her latest work continues in that same direction, with the sad, lilting “I Will Never Fall in Love with You” (a duet with Chase Lawrence) being a prime example. “Calling You Out” and “Someone I Used to Love” are self-assured tunes as well, both featuring excellent, emotion-drenched vocals by Pinkerton.

To help this promising young artist polish off her debut album, visit her Kickstarter campaign, which also includes a link to her sampler EP (which can be downloaded at no cost).